Lyricist Shekhar Astitwa should be complemented for using quite a few couplets from Ramcharitmanas. Vikram Montrose’s music might be a little too loud, but the singer-composer does pay respect to Lord Ram.

By Mayur Lookhar

An Akshay Kumar film is set to be released without much fanfare. Hard to believe. Maybe, it’s down to the subject, or the actor and the producers preferring to keep the marketing very low key. A trailer was launched, and to the best of our knowledge, there was no media interaction, or any city tours. Just five days before the release, Akshay Kumar and team Ram Setu [2022] threw a surprise with a song rather anthem launch.

There was no Q & A, as the superstar urged all to join him in singing of the Jai Shree Ram anthem that played out on the screen. Kumar took out his shoes before performing on the stage. There is no separate shoot, as director Abhishek Sharma and his singer, music composer Vikram Montrose simply compiled important visuals from the film and played their anthem over it. In fact, the anthem and visuals summed up the film in over 3 minutes.

Lyricist Shekhar Astitwa seems to have borrowed dohas [couplets] from Ramcharitmanas, the epic poetic retelling of Valmiki’s Ramayana by Tulsidas, for his Jai Shree Ram anthem. The first intro basically tells how Ram waited for three days for the ocean to help him and his vanar army to cross the sea. When the sea god didn’t reply, Lord Ram had threatened to the turn the whole sea dry.

Usually, for the sake of the masses, many lyricists tend to use just one odd couplet, or even a line from the original, while the rest of the lyrics would comprise of fresh simple Hindi words. Of course, the Sanskrit words will require one to dig its meaning. The compiled visuals from the film though tell you the story of director Abhishek Sharma’s Ram Setu.

The visuals speak for itself, we like how the ship is named Pushpak [the flying chariot that Ravan stole from Kuber], the speed boat bears the name of Chiranjivi. It means immortal with Hanuman being one of the seven immortals in Hindu mythology. Akshay’s underwater suit bears the name of Makar. There is said to be no mention of Makar in Valmiki’s Ramayana. Makar finds mention in one of the different versions. Makar means crocodile. The legend goes that while crossing over the sea after burning Lanka, Lord Hanuman’s sweat dropped into the sea, which was consumed by a female crocodile, who then give birth to Makardhwaja [part reptile, part vanar].

We see a crocodile in the Ram Setu anthem. So, the Makar here is in reference to the ancient king of Patala or Patal Lok.

The trailer and now this song amply suggests that Abhishek Sharma has certainly learnt his Ramayana. As for Vikram Montrose music, we found it partly invigorating but the heavy beats also make it sound like those compositions that borrow traditional devotional words and often play to loud , dhinchak music during Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra. That music can be psychedelic to the people who dance to such loud tunes. Montrose’s singing though didn’t really move us. But but the singer-composer does pay respect to Lord Ram.

Given the nature of the lyrics, it will take some effort to understand Montrose’s composition. Who says songs are always meant to be simply enjoyed? There is no harm in educating oneself through such anthems.

Watch the Jai Shree Ram anthem below. Ram Setu [2022] is set to be released on 25 October.